If there is one thing I can say about the Dominican people it that they know how to celebrate! Its Independence season and that means a month long celebration.
I dont really even know where to start Well I guess I will start with the preparations for the Independence season. First I had a tradition outfit made; every Friday during the month of October everyone wears their Creole outfit in town. I got a madras skirt, which is a bright plaid, and a white blouse. I also got my hair braided not only braided but I also got some fake hair added in. My braids were really long and even had some blond in it. It was really fun for a while, but because of the fake hair you cant get it wet. So after two weeks of not washing my hair they had to come out!
The first event I went to was the Cultural Dances at Cabrits National Park. All the dance groups from the North came together and competed in traditional dances like, Bele, Quadrille, Mazook, and Heal and Toe. Near the end of the month, there is a Cultural Gala, where the winners of the dances from all around the country come together and perform. It was really great to sit around and chat and watch the dancers perform. A lot of my friends were there so it was a very social event for me.
Then I went to Heritage Day in Grandbay. There were some great displays of local craftsmans work as well as great food all around the village. Later that night they had live music and more food!
After that is was the Youth Rally back up in Portsmouth. This was a really cool event and reminded me of my days in marching band. All the schools in the North got a group of students together to march in unison, holing a banner of their school, onto the playing field. It has a very military feel that no doubt came from the British influence here. But there is a marching band that plays while they march. My students from CALLS and RDPS were there and it was so cool to see they marching around with pride for their school.
The last week of October is Creole in the Park and World Creole Music Festival. From Monday to Thursday we had Creole in the Park in the botanic gardens in Roseau. There are two stages set up, and tons are booths all over with crafts, jewelry, candy, drinks, food, and lots more food. But the food is not typical festival food, its Creole food of codfish, crab, bakes, calallou, roti, cassava, and mahi mahi dishes. I got try some crab calallo very hard to eat but very good! Local artists played Creole songs, steel pans, reggae, jazz, and harmonicas, and then every night had one international band. This is a day event that ends at 7pm, and buses run all over the country all day long, so its a great family event that is fun and safe and only cost $2 at the door. I got to go Thursday and got to see one of my favorite singers in the Caribbean Queen Ifrica!
Then Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night is World Creole Music Festival. This is not for families, but more of a concert that goes from 7pm to 6am the next day! People from all over the world fly here to Dominica for the World Creole Music Festival. Each night costs $120EC, and has a combination of local bands and international bands; its all mainly Caribbean artists and music. With such a high-ticket price all us PCV decide to only go Saturday night because on of the biggest stars in the EC was performing that night. However hurricane Tomas had different plans we didnt get hit with the hurricane like St. Lucia did (all the PCVs there are doing well now) but we did get a pretty nasty storm that ended up canceling the show for that night. But in true Dominican style they picked it back up where they left off the next night and we were able to go to the show then! It was such a fun night!
The last event I attended before the actual Independence Day was Creole Day at RDPS and CALLS. At RDPS all the kids were dressed up in the traditional wear and there was a pageant for Miss Creole RD. Two of my old students were in the pageant and did very well. It was very fun to hang out with all the kids and watch the show. After spending the morning with the primary kids I went over to CALLS for the afternoon. The students had spent all morning cooking a huge fest for all of us. We all had lunch together crammed into our tiny schoolroom, and it was so great! The students put in so much hard work and really had a great time. After lunch we took tons of photos (they love taking photos!) And some of the girls did some traditional dancing with the others sang and drummed for them. It was a really special day for me and I was able to really bond with the students outside of the classroom. I think this was one of my favorite events of the season.
After all the celebrations (and I didnt even attend half of them) it was time to celebrate the actual day of Independence (November 3rd) and what better way to do that then a beach day! It was a great ending to a great (tiring) Independence Season.
Check out all my photos that go along with the events!
